


Centering Against the Storm

by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly



Series: Changing Fate [7]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anakin actually has emotional support, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Love, Multi, Prophetic Visions, Qui-Gon actually works through his issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-06-03 18:11:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6620995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Our Jedi face what has happened, protected by Padmé's generosity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Centering Against the Storm

Dinner with everyone had been a quiet affair. Anakin had watched his Master keep a calm, steady demeanor, while letting Obi-Wan and Anakin conduct most of the conversation. After, Anakin and Obi-Wan spoke softly about the plans for the coming days, Anakin was ready to pilot Padmé home, wearing an over-tunic that Teckla had loaned him to give him easier access to his hidden lightsaber.

He got them on their way, having already mapped out the best route for the journey. Once they were cruising easily, he rested back and looked at her briefly.

"Are you okay with me telling you now, or did you want to rest?"

"You're the one piloting, Ani, and I can tell this is going to be hard on you. I'm not going to sleep when I have your company, but we don't have to talk about whatever put those wounds on all of you now. Unless it would be easier, alone like this?" 

"It would be, because it involves things the Senate doesn't know yet, important ones," he told her. "If anyone bugged this skimmer it would be Commander Panaka, right? Do you trust him fully with information of that level? Otherwise, I might have to take you for a walk, away from the Palace, because I know we have to be careful about things being overheard," Anakin said.

He hated the dodginess of it, the constant wariness of spies, but… Palpatine was from Naboo.

"I trust him," Padmé replied, after several long moments to think, to worry about what this could possibly be, "with my life, all of my handmaidens' lives, Ani, but if you're that concerned, let's land now. There are a dozen lakes between here and Theed, many of them have islands. Some of them are Gungan inhabited, but I doubt they would object to _your_ presence. Pick one." 

He reached out to touch her hand, before nodding, and then piloting for the first such one he could remember from the map he had memorized. Fortunately, this one appeared to be devoid of Gungans, with barely a small shrine near the shore when he brought the skimmer to a halt there.

As the engine died away, he took a deep breath, and Padmé shook her head, taking his hand to leave the skimmer and walk to some of the rocks on the shore. "We found both Sith, Padmé. The one working with the Separatists, and the one on Coruscant," he continued. "My Master and I were tasked to go with Obi-Wan, to follow his leads on the former, because the Council was concerned about my exposure to the one on Coruscant. 

"I'll tell you about that last, since the fighting on Geonosis is easier for me to tell, in some ways." He looked at her with that too mature face again. "Darth Tyranus was a Fallen Jedi Master. Obi-Wan had identified him, found us a way to get in, but my Master never should have had to go!"

"...a Fallen _Jedi_?" Padmé stared at him in horror, her eyes widening. 

There were whispers, of course, even myths, of Jedi that abandoned the Order, or who fell to the Dark Side, but those were rare, and she was not sure she had ever heard of a Fallen _Master_. 'Personal costs', Ani had said, and with the emotional pain that had been obvious in Master Jinn's eyes, despite his attempts at composure and reserved calm. Beyond that, there was the anger raging behind Anakin's serious eyes, showing in the sharpness of his voice. "A friend? No," she realized, before Anakin could even speak. "More than a friend, a -- oh. Oh, Ani, no..." 

He nodded slowly, trying to control the anger he hadn't really known was so severe. It had been bubbling deep under his need to do well on the mission, to not fail his Master or his brother. Now, though, talking about it, the anger burned hotly. 

"His own teacher," Anakin said, refusing to mark the dead man as Master of Qui-Gon, especially after the way Tyranus had spoken to Qui-Gon through the fight. "We made it all the way in, dealt with the ones with him -- I don't like it, Padmé, having to face living beings, but it was needed -- and then the fight was really on. 

"I was to keep the fight fair, not let anyone reach them, while he and Obi-Wan fought the Sith. And, oh Force, but they both are so good! This Sith was called one of the best, when he'd been a Jedi, but they held their own, kept pushing him." Anakin closed his eyes, remembering the smell and sound and sight of that lightning attack. "He used a truly Sith, awful manipulation of the Force to attack my Master."

Padmé's breath shook, her hands tightening into fists on her thighs at the 'his own teacher', and she shifted to lean her weight a little against Anakin's side, offering him her support as she listened to the sharp, quiet fury in her dear friend's voice. She was horrified for Qui-Gon, at the idea of having to battle a teacher, a friend, and then her mouth tightened into a single sharp line. She knew Qui-Gon was physically all right, she had just sat to table with him and shared a meal, but Anakin's voice told her this attack had been a terrible one. 

"And then?" she asked, very softly. 

"I couldn't do nothing, I just couldn't! I could see my Master was controlling the attack with his lightsaber, but it was taking everything he had, and he couldn't use the opening Obi-Wan had made. I just… reacted." He leaned into that support a little more, doing all he could to guard both the men in his life from his emotions working their way out. He could shield those bonds easier than he could keep control. "I pushed, with the Force. And it freed Obi-Wan up to finish the fight.

"Then, even after Tyranus had tried to kill us all, my Master reached out to him, trying to get him to renounce the Sith," Anakin said with that awe-inspired shock for that moment. "I had to make certain the droids couldn't intrude then, but I could feel him, in my training bond, trying so hard to save his teacher that way."

She closed her own eyes, one of her fisted hands sliding behind Anakin's back. She didn't want to be able to envision that, but she could. Anakin's shock was so strong, almost confused as much as awed, and she shook her head slightly. 

"Of course you couldn't do nothing, Ani, dear; you've wanted to help people, to protect them, more than _anything_ else, from the moment I met you. I'm sorry you had to do it, but not sorry you did. 

"Did... did it work?" And how had Qui-Gon had the strength to try to be compassionate, to redeem instead of simply slay, in the face of such a betrayal? 

Anakin slowly shook his head side to side as he pressed into that touch. "I don't think so. I'd handled maybe a third of the droids outside when he and Obi-Wan joined me and Qui-Gon finished the rest of them off. Like, well, even more effortlessly than when we went after the pilots!" It had been almost as frightening as the attempt with Tyranus had been shocking, to watch Qui-Gon's battle-precision through their retreat to the ship.

"We got back to our ship -- and I disabled the beacon that would have yelled for help to you, Padmé, if we didn't make it back in a certain time -- so that we could leave. Obi-Wan took our Master to the cabin, and they both had more blaster marks than me. I just focused on making a jump here, so we could be safe and quiet for a time." 

"I'm sorry, for Qui-Gon's sake," she murmured softly, keeping her arm behind his back, before she made a softly amused noise. "I'm glad you thought of us -- both to send you help, and to come to. You are all beloved here, and we will keep you secret for as long as your Master needs." 

Anakin smiled at her. "Thank you. The Jedi are so caught up in not being emotional and we try, but some things ask so much!" He said the words in a rush, admitting in his own mind that it was what he struggled with the most. "But… now, I've got worse news for you, Padmé. And this is why I wanted to be extra careful about possible spies.

"The Sith on Coruscant tried to influence me, and we caught it. So we know who it is. But not with the kind of proof it will take to show the Senate."

Padmé had smiled back, but then Anakin said _he_ had been influenced by the Sith -- her Ani! -- and for a moment Padmé Amidala saw red, her entire body straightening into a single erect line, her hand unfisting only to tighten on his side. That they'd found the Sith, that the Jedi knew their real enemy, could be only good, why had Ani --

"...Qui-Gon was right all along," she said softly, horror pulsing through her. 

He nodded silently at that, turning to offer her a hug, if she would accept it. "He left a compulsion in my mind, to listen to him, to accept his words and after we found it, I had a horrible Force Vision of what might happen if we hadn't found it. One with Galactic War, and Jedi Masters dead, and another one killed directly because of me," he said softly.

She let herself press into his arms, wrap around him, letting him comfort her and then he said that last, and her own shocked, enraged horror melted aside in the need to comfort him. She pulled her head back, looking into his eyes, and shook her head. "I can't believe you would do that, Ani. Not of your own will, ever. 

"But how horrible, to see such things, not just nightmare but foretelling... oh, Ani, come here." 

He swallowed hard, hearing her faith in him. He'd seen the horror he became, and yet she believed in him so strongly. His arms tightened on her, keeping them very close, letting them draw comfort from each other. This was the way it was meant to be, he just knew it.

"It's why my Master and I were told, as soon as Obi-Wan came back, we would follow his leads, not knowing what they were. Because it was a solid excuse to get me off Coruscant, so I didn't have to be obvious about avoiding him. He wants me at his side, and that terrifies me," Anakin admitted. "The other Masters, some of them are so certain I can't control myself, that I will Fall, because I feel things so strongly. And I fear that, adding to the cycle that being afraid brings, leaving me open to anger and the Dark Side."

"They're idiots," Padmé told him, the blasphemy sitting oddly lightly in her mouth, as she tucked her hand around the back of his neck and held him in against her. "They don't know you at all, then, if they think your compassion and loyalty are flaws or dangers. 

"It's people that _don't_ care for others that are the dangerous ones. 

"But I would be scared, too, if a Sith wanted me close!" 

Anakin gave a startled bit of a laugh, turning his head so his brow was against her throat. "I keep telling my Master this, and I think he sometimes agrees, about the feelings. But then, he's got Obi-Wan." He took a deep breath of her scent, all light and gentle, as he moved his arms loosely down around her waist. "I just want it over with, so the Republic is safe, and my Master and I can go deal with the troubles no one cares about, that get ignored by the Order.

"I don't want to be afraid of Darth Sidious; I just want him dealt with."

She hummed, low soft noise, and nodded against his hair. That made sense, but oh, Ani was brave... to go right back into this? Back to someone that had powers like that, and designs on him? "Is there any way We can help, Ani? I could send sealed diplomatic orders, putting Naboo's weight and vote behind the Order with your Master to our Senator, perhaps?" 

Danger flared bright and sharp in Anakin's senses, her words sparking them all, and the immediate "No!" from him as he held her tighter was full of anguish. It took him a moment to pull back from the visions of her, older, arguing with him, in danger, dying--

"Anakin?" 

\-- and he pulled back, his eyes absolutely haunted as he looked at her. "No," he made himself say more calmly, though his breathing was harsh, forced //mechanical, constructed// as he did. "I need you safe, Padmé. The Order will find the proof. I can't -- you must not be in danger, because of me. Please, just protect yourself here, and be ready for whatever comes, but don't bring yourself to _his_ attention again!"

That anguished, half-terrified snap had frightened her, the blaze in his eyes more frightening as he looked at her, fighting for breath as he answered. Her heart twisted, a fierce love and a deep anger both welling up in her at once, and she made herself stay steady, looking at him, until his breathing calmed. 

He realized how sharp he had spoken, how … direct he had said it, and he bit at his lower lip, trying to pull away from her, ashamed. He wasn't supposed to be letting his emotions control him! He couldn't just tell her he loved her, either, not yet, not when he wasn't even grown up! How could he ever tell her of the Visions about her, about them together when he was just a teenager still?!

"I'm sorry."

"Shh, Ani," she told him, gently, now that he'd settled down, her arms holding on to him. "It's all right. But I _will not_ hide in safety when I am part of the reason he has the power he now does. I _will not_ , do not ask me to. 

"I will wait if I must. If you think Naboo's help will do no good, then I will keep silent. But it will not be because I am afraid. Not when he used me, used _my people's deaths_ for his own ends and gains." 

He nodded slowly, but that too-serious look was all over his face. "There are four people in the entire Galaxy that can be used against me, Padmé. My Master, my brother, my mother -- and you," he told her. "I am trying, very hard, to gain the calm center that will let me do my duty as a Jedi, but if any of the four of you were used to hurt me, that Vision comes closer to reality. I glimpsed it, when you offered.

"I'm sorry I'm not strong enough yet. I'm not asking you to not be part of efforts to end his power; I'm asking you to wait and let the attack begin elsewhere," he finished in a pained, but quiet, voice.

"Anakin," she murmured, soft, shaking her head at him a little, listening to those solemn words, "if I had just seen something terrible happening to you, I think I would have been screaming, too. 

"I don't want to be used against you, my dear friend. And as long as you understand that I _am_ going to help, I will wait. I can be patient, and other than my one suggestion, there is little I can do from here -- where I am most needed. So." 

Anakin took a deep breath, let it out, then nodded. "A sealed letter for the Council might not be a bad idea," he admitted. "I can make sure it is delivered to them without it being known." He gave her a shaky smile, and made to stand up. "I think that's everything I was supposed to tell you. So I should take you home, right?" If he got moving, was back behind the controls, he might forget those glimpses of her dead, because of him.

"In a hurry to leave my company now, Ani?" she asked, rising to her own feet, her hand on his shoulder as she smiled at him, trying to make sure he knew she was only teasing, and gently at that. "No, I know. You want something to _do_. Let's fly, then." 

"Easier, when I'm doing things," he said, but he smiled back… and reached for her hand, because he wanted to hold it, just to anchor again. "I'll probably see if Kané will let me work on the ships with her pilots and mechanics while I'm here. I like working on machines. They do what you expect them to, and are easier to fix than people messes."

"So much easier," Padmé agreed, "even if anything more complicated than replacing a few parts is a little beyond me. People... well. They're much harder to help, or fix." 

"But you're good at it," he said as they got back in the skimmer. "You have made Naboo strong in the good way. The people love you, the economy is good, people are healing."

Padmé blinked at him as she settled into place, surprised for a moment but then, Shmi lived here; of course he would check on how the planet's recovery was going. She dropped her eyes slightly, feeling a trace of a flush on her cheeks, and murmured softly, "Thank you, Ani. I don't always feel very good at it, but thank you for that." 

//She is so beautiful.// He could be patient though. He could sense she saw him as a friend, saw him as young. But he knew what Obi-Wan had gone through, loving Qui-Gon for at least nine years before knowing if the feelings were returned. And they were the most stable couple Anakin had ever heard of. He wanted that, eventually.

If his idea of the future didn't come to pass, it would hurt. But at least he had this amazing angel as his friend, no matter what.

+++

Qui-Gon shifted his weight, curling himself closer against Obi-Wan's body, laying his head against his shoulder -- not the usual positioning for them, but he wasn't too proud to lean into his beloved's strength when his own was not there -- unsure if the noise in his throat was a hiss or a sigh as he contemplated breaking the silence between them. 

"...I'm so _angry_ with him, beloved..." 

Obi-Wan was relieved when Qui-Gon began to speak of it. He knew the emotions needed lanced, so Qui-Gon could let them go. "The man who said your heart would be your undoing, through betrayal, was one to betray you. Of course you are angry, my heart." 

In his own way, so was Obi-Wan. Dooku had left a shadow on Qui-Gon with those words, and two of his padawans had lived down to that curse. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon had long since come to terms over his own betrayal as a youth. And together, they had mostly banished Xanatos's ghost. But it still stung.

Trust his partner to see straight to the core of it, Qui-Gon thought, a moment after his hand tightened on Obi-Wan's shoulder, probably too hard. That -- it -- 

"You know me so well," he murmured, low, his voice shaking more than a little. "It -- he was always... distant, and once I was through my Trials... we did the more usual thing, we separated, he returned to individual work," Qui-Gon shrugged slightly. That had been the accepted thing, and he had known that would come. 

Having his Master's pride that he -- 

"He was _proud_ of us," he heard himself more than half-snarl, "as he was _dying_ , he was **proud** of us, as though he had any karking right to that!" 

Obi-Wan tucked his lover in closer still, arms tight on him. "I didn't know him. But he seemed to hold strength and duty high in esteem, when he was still part of the Order. We did what needed to be done." 

How could he help his Master best? How could he help Qui-Gon let go of the pain? "He is gone, now, and the best we can make of this, is to remember the good he did do. Undo the harm he did once he was seduced away."

Qui-Gon breathed out, then in, loosening his grip on Obi-Wan's shoulder to breathe in, and out again. "He did," he agreed, slowly. "He was always devoted to the Order, to duty; he was such a great teacher, Obi-Wan. He had incredible insights, incredible skills, and nothing ever challenged _his_ calm. 

"He could be aloof, often almost arrogant, but he was -- he was so much better than this." 

"Qui-Gon," the younger man began softly. "None of us can ever know what might take us fully into that path. But there is one thing we do know." He stroked a hand along Qui-Gon's skin, gentle and reassuring. "That, in the end, it was only their choices that are responsible." He could not, would not live with allowing Qui-Gon to feel guilt in this matter. "Perhaps, my heart, it was his very distance that set his course, though. If seduction from outside is strong, it makes sense that you need ties inside to keep you firm."

Qui-Gon made a quiet, thoughtful noise, leaning into his beloved's hand and listening to the slow, thoughtful words. He kept back a comment about how heretical Obi-Wan's thoughts had become -- they were no more so than his own, and he would not be cruel to his beloved simply because he was in pain -- and instead nodded slowly. 

"Perhaps, my own," he agreed, soft, and then shook his head slightly. "Though not just the distance. He -- you weren't wrong, in your assessment. He wanted the power to order others' lives for them, to shape things as he saw fit.

"And I cannot understand that desire. It simply escapes me."

"Me as well." Obi-Wan dropped a kiss on his partner's skin lightly. "It could just be that he was frustrated by having helped shape a perfect legacy so early in his life. Wasn't he barely in his twenties when he trained you?"

He'd purposefully gone for teasing with that.

Qui-Gon laughed, shaking his head slightly -- but oh, the laughter felt good. Clean and easy, like so little had been since Obi-Wan returned to Coruscant. "He was twenty, I was ten, when he chose me," he agreed. "So, nearly thirty before I faced the trials, but... yes." 

Obi-Wan smiled, and placed another kiss. "I love you," he whispered. "You and I, we are one. You do not carry this alone, and I am always here." He reinforced that with a deeper push along their bond.

"We are," Qui-Gon agreed. "And thank the Force itself for it." He leaned into their bond, into the strong, steady presence there with him, and slowly felt his shoulders relax, as Obi-Wan's quietly firm refusal to permit him to shoulder blame for this settled deeper inside him like a new piece of truth. Obi-Wan _was_ right; he had been needed where he was, with Anakin and Obi-Wan, not jaunting off to Serreno to argue with a man he could not remember having ever actually won an argument with in his _life_. 

"While we're discussing unpleasant matters," he finally said, shifting from that topic to the other, "do you ever see anything of Xanatos in our Ani?" 

"What? No!" Obi-Wan was fierce in his denial, at a gut level. Then the question's source and likely reasoning hit. "The Masters are _still_ holding us against you?!" That sent his temper soaring, something that was actually hard to do.

Oh, oh, that was a relief. He felt his muscles shudder slightly as tension he hadn't known he was holding ran out of him. If anyone would recognize Xanatos' failings and traits in another, it was Obi-Wan, who had suffered so much because of him. 

But then that question burst from his beloved's lips, emotion lashing behind it. It was rare that he heard Obi-Wan snarl so, felt his partner's anger spark and soar more like Anakin's than his usual tempered reason, and what he asked.…

"Not quite against me," he answered, his hand sliding along Obi-Wan's skin in a slow stroke, "but Ani admitted that some of the Masters are harder on him about showing or feeling pride than they seem to be with any others. 

"It didn't take me long to realize why that must be." 

Obi-Wan had to reach for his center, actually hold onto it. "Anakin was a child when we found him, but already too old -- bear with me, Master -- to adapt to the very specific views of how we see padawans as needing to be. And yet, he has done everything asked of him, with fairly few incidents that breach self-discipline! To be holding him up to the idea of inevitable failure is wrong of them!

"I am certain Master Windu is one of the Masters at fault?" Obi-Wan questioned.

"I didn't ask," Qui-Gon admitted quietly, feeling Obi-Wan's struggle for control. He was managing it well, though, despite the sharpness of heat in his voice, "but I would be surprised if he was not. What made you ask?" 

His partner took a deep breath and sighed it out. "We look for our flaws most heavily in those we teach. It's why I am quicker to call him on being reckless or impulsive, something I try to be mindful of." Obi-Wan nuzzled at Qui-Gon in apology for that failing. "Master Windu, having mastered his anger and knowing it as the danger it can be, especially in his 'saber form, is likely seeing that more in Anakin, and working to break it… or make Anakin face it the way he did.

"If I were to sit and think, I could probably name the others and what they chide him most for but I will not have them holding our Padawan to a higher level than the ones years older and more experienced in Temple life than he is! Anakin is brilliant, and he will go far."

Oh, he would not, would he? Qui-Gon smiled, almost despite himself, and pressed a kiss against Obi-Wan's shoulder. Sometimes, how his partner had grown and matured amazed him more than others. This was one of those moments. 

"There's a reason I don't want Anakin anywhere _near_ vaapad until he's been through the Trials," he agreed, if somewhat obliquely, "and Mace has always tried viciously to control his own considerable pride, it's true. 

"You probably could manage that, having studied with them much more recently," he added. "I wound up having to tell him about Xanatos -- he thought I was angry with _him_ , Force bless! -- so that he would understand. 

"And after this last," he waved his hand at their wounds, "after seeing my Master Fall as well, when for so long I was blind to Xan's faults because my Master had so many of those same traits, and was a great Jedi, I -- " 

Obi-Wan moved so that he was pinning Qui-Gon to the bed, settled over the elder's hips, his hands coming to grip Qui-Gon's shoulders. "Stop. No. I will be the first to admit you have one of the worst sabaac deals, with all I learned about Dooku, what I knew of Xanatos, with all the poodoo I put you through! But you, you are a good man, a damn strong Jedi, even if we don't always agree on how the Code should be interpreted.

"And Anakin is growing solidly under your care and guidance! So, stop. Please."

Qui-Gon found himself staring up at his beloved, blinking in complete surprise, too shocked for a moment to do anything else. It actually took several moments before he could manage to get to words, convince his tongue and throat to work properly. He could count on one hand the number of times Obi-Wan had resorted to anything even vaguely like this in the nearly twenty years they had spent together, even when they had come close to dueling in truth it had not been like this -- Force, but he was so proud of him. 

If somewhat indignant at being shoved about so easily. 

" _You_ were, are, a blessing -- no matter how much I fought the idea at first -- my beloved. But, I think I needed to hear you say you didn't see them in him."

Obi-Wan relented from the stern look on his face and dropped in, kissing Qui-Gon long and slow. When he came away from the kiss, it was by mere breaths of space. "I'm glad I could reassure you. Now, I think we've been talking far too long when I know much better ways of helping dim the last few days," he offered, his eyes lit with love and desire alike. 

He did not want Qui-Gon continuing to think on the worst, not when he'd made his points as best he knew how.

Qui-Gon chuckled, low and soft, and slid his hand up Obi-Wan's side, that love and want in his partner's eyes as steadying as his words had been. He surged up to kiss him again in the next moment, pressing his //yes// across their bond rather than bothering with speech. 

+++++

Anakin saw Padmé into the care of Rabé at the palace, then turned off and made his way through the city to his mother's home. He was, finally, beginning to feel the full fatigue of the -- he wasn't sure, actually, how many hours he'd been awake and either fighting, piloting, or having overly emotional reactions to everything.

He wanted to sleep, and he would do that best in his mother's home, even though he knew he could have stayed at the palace.

He found his way there, and tapped lightly at the door; it wasn't that late, but just in case, he would rather they sleep, even if it meant walking back to the palace.

It was Ric that opened the door, the man's face confused for a moment, then Anakin almost felt the shock of recognition before he said, "Anakin?!" then shook his head and just stepped back, waving him in. He shut the door, turning to call out into the house, "Shmi!" before looking back at him, concern having replaced both the confusion and the shock. 

"I'm okay and my Master gave me permission to come to Theed," Anakin hastily said, before this man could think the wrong thing. "We're just not officially here." He turned his head to show the braid was very much still there, just pinned into his short hair.

"I was just worried something had happened to one of you, to bring you here unannounced," Ric reassured him quickly.

Shmi had heard her husband's startled voice at the door and been heading towards it even before he had called for her, but then she heard her son's voice, quick and intent, and gave up on all pretenses of not rushing into the first room. At least she had heard the 'not officially here' before she saw Anakin in local clothes, she thought, as she got her eyes on her son. "Ani," she breathed, reaching out for him. 

Her son, here again. 

When she had sent him away with the Jedi Master, she had never expected to see him again but now he was here one more time, and -- "Look at you, you're so tall, you were already tall, what _is_ this?" 

He gladly folded his arms around her, holding her tight. "Mother," he whispered, closing his eyes. How was he getting so tall compared to her? She was mother and center of the universe for his childhood memories!

"We had a bit of a hard time on a nearby planet, so we're here to rest before saving the galaxy next time," he said, in as light a voice as he could muster. "They stayed at a retreat, but Master Qui-Gon gave me permission to come to the city. I think he needed some peace and quiet, which we all know I don't do very well."

If he made it trivial, it wouldn't keep gnawing inside him that he had left, that he wasn't helping his Master. He knew good and well this was very much a part of Obi-Wan's part in taking care of Qui-Gon, but Anakin hated not being able to help those he cared for.

Shmi wrapped around him, holding her only son tight against her, her cheek against his throat. "Well, I will not complain of anything that lets me see you -- so long as he is going to be all right, with that time?" 

She liked the tall, sad-eyed big man that had risked so much on her son's ability, then gambled _for_ her son's freedom and won, and did not want anything to have happened to him. 

Anakin made an affirmative noise. "Obi-Wan is with him. They'll be alright." He then had to stifle a yawn, because he was so tired. "Can I borrow a bed while I'm here?" he asked, managing to get a little of his kid voice back to make it sound imploring.

Shmi swatted him lightly on the side for asking, snorting softly. "Of course you can, Ani. You sound so tired; come along. You can tell me as much -- or little -- as you need to when you wake up again." 

"Already told Padmé so much," he said in a sleepy voice, not seeing as Ric gave a very startled look his way. "But some of it, I can tell you, tomorrow," he agreed, moving with her to the guest room.

"All right, Ani," she agreed, opening the bedroom door to let him in, stopping him to press a kiss to his forehead before she let him slip inside to settle into the bed. "Sleep well tonight." 

If any of Ric's pilots -- their pilots, she knew, to her amusement -- came tonight for dinner, they would just have to be quiet, stay sober, and take themselves back to their homes. 

Anakin barely managed to get his boots off before he was falling back, still dressed, and just letting sleep take him.

Ric looked up at his wife as she returned to where he was, and he shook his head a little. "So odd, but I'm glad he came," he told her. "If he's still on first name basis with _her_ , so casually, he could have easily stayed at the palace and come to find you tomorrow."

"Possibly not, not if they mean to remain undiscovered," Shmi said, thinking worriedly of what could bring three Jedi to need to stay hidden, "and I do not think he would stay there, when he could be here. That may be a mother's foolishness, but I will keep it." 

She moved to lean against her husband's shoulder, a quiet noise in her throat. "He didn't even take off more than his boots, he was so tired."

He gathered her in, tenderly close, so overjoyed to have this treasure of a woman consent to keep him as a partner. That she had an amazing son just added to how incredibly special she was. "I've seen that look before, on others, in the mirror. Always after long, hard missions." He stroked her back and hair gently. "We'll feed him and let him sleep, and if he insists he needs to do something more than work on Threepio, I'll take him to the hangar and 'introduce' him as a kinsman. You know the pilots and mechanics will play along."

"Of course they will," Shmi agreed, her mouth quirking at the very idea -- but Ani would love the chance to work on the sleek, elegant Nubian craft -- and then thumped her forehead against his shoulder. "Thank you for reminding me, love, that I need to tell Threepio before he clatters about and wakes Ani." 

Ric laughed softly. "Of course," he said, before relaxing. The mystery would either unravel, or stay hidden in the need-to-know cloak that was common to soldiers. Odd, to think of Jedi as such, but Ric had listened to the HoloNet and heard how many escalations of violence, galaxy-wide, had been met by judicious Jedi intervention to save lives. They were guardians of the peace, and that sometimes meant taking on violence.

+++++

Rabé had trailed along with her queen on her return, then as soon as she noted Padmé not staying in quarters, gone to Sabé. While all of them were very tight-knit to one another, Sabé was best at handling Padmé in her anger. It was worrying for the handmaiden, as they knew Padmé had left to go take care of their Jedi, and now she had come back in such an emotional state.

Sabé was already sleeping, but the instant Rabé touched her hand, she woke.

"Padmé went to the training suite. With her blaster."

That had the other woman moving, letting the covers fall away.

"Tell Eirtaé to be ready for the state robes tomorrow morning," Sabé said, changing the rotation. It was supposed to have been herself, but she might be up very late, depending on their queen. "I'll send a note if Padmé will be available instead."

"Of course."

Rabé went to do as she needed, while Sabé changed and took a blaster for herself. She hurried down to the training suite, not surprised to find she had chosen almost exactly the same workout clothing as her queen. They lived in such synchronicity after all.

Padmé had the moving targets set at a high level of difficulty in the firing range, letting Sabé know the degree of upset she was feeling. Had one of their Jedi died? Or merely been deeply injured? Had something happened to Anakin specifically? Sabé was well aware that the boy held a tender spot in their queen's heart.

"When it resets, Padmé, I'll have to show you I can clear it faster," Sabé challenged, to give her friend something to compete over. Maybe that would help her approach her emotions more steadily. She knew she honestly couldn't clear it so fast. She was accurate, but Padmé was consistently their best sharpshooter.

Padmé didn't look away from her targets -- she had heard someone enter, knew she had palm-locked the door, and therefore it was one of her handmaidens or Commander Panaka -- as she fired once, twice more and then, in the moments before the next targets popped, "Only if the gods smile on you, Sabé, only if the gods smile. So we'll see." 

She knew what her handmaiden was doing, of course. The same thing she would have been doing for Sabé, if needed. "You should be sleeping." 

"It won't hurt me to miss one rest. Eirtaé will be ready, if one of us is needed to don the robes tomorrow." Sabé didn't bother to tell her she was ridiculous for expecting her to be anywhere but here. "And the gods may very well smile on me; your shoulders are so tense that your aim is going to falter eventually."

She snorted, an indelicate noise, in the moment before she dropped prone to hit a low-appearing target and rolled back to her feet a moment later. "Rabé worries too much. I was going to come crawl in with you once I destroyed enough things to calm down."

By the time she had finished, three more of targets she'd programmed to make very loud bangs and sparks as they were hit had fallen to her shots, and the cycle was winding down. "We're going swimming tomorrow, all of us. If I thought the Boss would not mind, I'd go to Otoh Raban, but one of the surface islands will have to do instead." 

Swimming meant getting out of the Palace, away from potential eavesdropping, away from the necessary identity masks. Things were grave indeed, and Sabé readied her blaster for the next round. "He likely would not mind, but a surface island would be fine for a day away, and raise less questions."

She would ask Rabé to go over their skimmer carefully with a scanner, to be certain nothing had been placed on it to monitor them. Whatever Padmé needed to discuss obviously needed to be private.

Padmé nodded, stepping out of the way as the cycle rebooted. 

"They are all only slightly wounded... physically, at least," she told Sabé, wanting to reassure her at least that much, but Anakin's almost-terror for her, his worry even about Commander Panaka, had almost completely sealed her lips. Besides, it would be unfair of her to tell Sabé while her friend was attempting to beat her time and accuracy. 

She wanted to tell her, wanted the chance to react honestly, before the Queen of Naboo had to inform her closest bodyguards and friends how they had all been betrayed. 

Sabé weighed that as she handled the first four targets. Scars of the heart and soul were far worse than physical ones, in her opinion. She had done as much of the counseling and assistance of the citizens of their world as any of the other handmaidens. 

"Time, peace, and quiet will aid them all then," she said between targets at last. "Though I am not certain Anakin understands quiet." She said the last just in hopes of helping Padmé smile a little. She then had to hurry through the next set of targets, separate far apart.

//Anakin, quiet?// Padmé snorted softly, shaking her head, though the image of his haunted eyes and the low tone of his voice swam in front of her eyes.

"I'm certain he _doesn't_ ," she replied after a moment, deliberately matching Sabé's lightness with her own, "which is why he came back with me, rather than stay where the others are." 

Sabé twisted to get a better aim on a distant target even as she smiled at that. "His mother will be pleased," she said, even as she knew it mattered to Padmé to have the boy close. Shmi Skywalker had married, and the pilots had insisted she was still 'Skywalker' though they would append their former commander's name in behind or front of it. Ric didn't mind a bit, to have his name at the front end or the second. 

Anakin was the hero they had all needed in the face of the devastating invasion, and yet Sabé knew it went deeper for Padmé. Something about meeting a mere slave with such fire, of knowing slavery existed even now, had made Padmé's dedication to keeping her people free and healthy even stronger.

"Undoubtedly," Padmé agreed, as the thought of the infinitely kind, gentle woman banked some of her anger away for the moment. It was difficult to be angry when thinking of Shmi. She deliberately concentrated on that, on thinking of Shmi's certain delight in having Anakin with her again, to pull herself under control. 

Sabé worked her way through the entire program, coming closer than she ever had to Padmé's score. Nor had she missed a single target, which made her grin a little.

"Closer," she told her queen and friend. "Now, do you want to spar or come to my room?" she invited.

"Your room," Padmé decided, even as she squeezed Sabé's shoulder, pleased for her at the score displaying. "Very well done, my friend!"

Beating on padded sparring droids might have been as soothing as the firing range had been, but she wasn't going to risk Sabé to her temper, even now that she had it more under control. 

Sabé holstered her blaster before walking with Padmé to her room. She didn't even ask as she went straight for the bath, starting the jetted tub, so they could both soak away tension and sweat. The noise of the tub was quiet, but it kept a low background interference in case anyone had managed to sneak a spy probe in.

"Come soak," she told Padmé, when she went into the main room to put her blaster away where it belonged.

"Sabé," Padmé said, pleased and delightedly relieved, understanding in an instant exactly what her handmaiden was thinking, "you're wonderful. That's perfect." 

She slipped off the belt that held her blaster, then stripped down to her underthings, spending the time while the tub filled in stretching, then -- once the water was high enough -- finished disrobing and slid into the gloriously hot, faintly floral water and moved to where she could lean against Sabé's side.

Sabé had placed a carafe and two glasses at hand on the ledge of the tub, so they could drink a light fruit juice as needed. She settled the lighting to a comfortable level with the controls at the tub, and then let the heat of the water soak into her skin, waiting for some tension to ease in the shoulders under her arm, before speaking.

"You said all three are physically injured but not badly?" Sabé's voice was quiet, keeping it where the bubbling of the jets would cause trouble for any listening devices.

She nodded, still leaning against Sabé more than the tub, letting the water do its work, and answered, just as soft, "Yes. I think Master Jinn took the worst of the fight, and definitely the worst of the pain. They found the new Sith Apprentice, and slew him -- but he had been a friend and teacher to Qui-Gon, and he is grieving." 

That made Sabé's heart tighten. "How tragic." That meant it had been a Jedi and that thought frightened her. The Republic needed their Jedi to be noble and strong, not capable of betrayal on that level! "They came to the right place to work through such trauma, though. The Lake country is soothing."

Padmé nodded, feeling her friend's body tensing with the same fear that had ridden her shoulders when Anakin had first told her. 

"They did," she agreed, "Ani knew just where to come. That would be bad enough -- but they also, finally, have confirmation of who the Sith Master is, and had to get Ani away from Coruscant. 

"Qui-Gon has been right, all this time." 

Sabé went absolutely stiff. She could not at first believe what had been said, and then she just turned her face into Padmé's hair, hugging her closer.

"I am sorry, my queen. None of us saw reason to distrust him," she said, feeling the raw ache of knowing just how instrumental they had been in that man's rise to power. She also felt anger anew, thinking of all the people who had died, and the presence of the Sith monster their Jedi had faced here for them. "We must find a way to stop him!"

"I agree," Padmé answered, "but Anakin -- after what that -- that --" she wracked her memory for Gungan insults she'd heard, not their Basic but in their own tongue, and hissed several of them, "after what he did to _my Ani_ , Anakin still asked us to wait -- ssst, no, no, he had a Seeing of my, possibly our, deaths, my dear one, if we act too quickly -- " she had to speak quickly, to keep Sabé from protesting, "but we _will_ help." 

The handmaiden clutched her queen close, holding on for those words of losing Padmé, even as she shifted that 'my Ani' into the back of her mind. "We will keep you safe, and do all we can for Anakin," Sabé said firmly. "But what did he do to Ani? I find it hard to think what a boy, even so gifted a one, could bring to a Sith's plans."

Padmé hummed to her handmaiden, rocking her slightly, letting her catch her breath and slowly relax a little. Answering that question, though… well, it was Sabé. Of course she would tell her. 

"Laid what Anakin called a 'compulsion' in his mind. For Ani to heed his words, obey him, trust him..." Padmé trailed off, waiting to see how quickly Sabé understood. 

"Oh…." Sabé shook her head violently at that. "Placing a traitor, against his will, among the Jedi, potentially. One who is so gifted." That was a terrifying thought. "I am glad he has come home to us, then, to heal. Because as big as his heart is, that had to have been not unlike a physical violation."

Padmé nodded her agreement, both with Sabé's horror and with her words. 'Home to us'... yes. Ani had come home to them, and brought Qui-Gon as well. so that he could heal too. And she was so very glad he had. "So am I, Sabé. So am I -- and yes, I think it was. He is trying so very hard to be strong, but he's so hurt and frightened." 

"We'll just have to help him work through it," Sabé told her crisply. "He is meant to be a great Jedi; that has been obvious with every report we hear that has their names attached. We just have to remind him of the good he protects by meeting the dangers out there.

"And do all we can to make certain all three know they can always come here for peace and healing, as I think the galaxy is about to get very dangerous, since the Jedi know who their true enemy is."

There, Padmé thought, her handmaiden had spoken the absolute truth. "I think you are right, dear friend. 

"But you see why we must be somewhere no-one can listen, when I tell the others, yes?" 

"Yes." Sabé agreed fully. "And it will look as if you are merely taking a holiday, to ready for dealing with the delegation. Because, no matter what, my queen, we cannot let anyone suspect what we know. It would betray our Jedi having come here, and set the stage for possible reprisal against our people, if the man spies upon us."

Padmé nodded, and hugged her friend close. "So we cannot," she agreed softly. "And will not." 

+++++

A man paced inside an opulent office, his eyes almost feral with anger and rage. He had felt the connection to his Apprentice snap, just as he had some six years prior. Another link in his chain broken.

On top of that, the infernal enemy had taken his prize away again. Just when he had managed to get to the boy and begin the conversion that was necessary! Did they suspect?

His command of the future did not imply they did. He would have his glory, his victory, but he still needed to be patient. His plans would have to adapt, though, and he began to frame just how to make the Separatists play their part without Tyranus holding the leash. If they made a bold, fierce attack on a Republic world, then he could nudge the enemy Jedi toward 'discovering' the army at Kamino.

Yes, that would work quite nicely, and perhaps, with a war on their hands, the boy would be promoted away from his Master more swiftly. Then, Palpatine could take the Chosen One to his true destiny.

+++++

Obi-Wan finally made the report, sitting inside the ship to do so, the next day after a lazy wake-up in Qui-Gon's arms. He kept his robe around him and his hood up as the holo finally showed him the Council room and the waiting members of the High Council.

"Our mission was a success," he said, keeping his emotions out of it. "The Sith Lord is dead, along with a few of his ranking allies. Nute Gunray was not among the dead, though, and is likely to be the new head of the Separatist movement. That, though, may work to our favor, as it elevates one part of the alliance above others."

He carefully did not look at Master Yoda's place in the circle, though he still saw the slow flattening of his pointed ears from the corner of his eye.

Master Koth nodded slightly, moving a little closer to his holo projection. "That may indeed be useful. Are you all... well?"

Obi-Wan gave a sharp nod to the question. "We are taking the time to improve and strengthen diplomatic ties, but all of us came through with only minor injuries," he said. Those words weren't technically a lie; visiting with the Naboo Queen could only serve them well in the long run. "Unless there is a task the Council requires of us?"

"Not at the moment, Knight Kenobi," Master Windu replied, shaking his head slightly. "Other than continuing to keep your -- well, Master Jinn's -- Padawan off Coruscant." 

"We will do our best at that, Masters, but I know that Master Jinn, myself, and Padawan Skywalker will all gladly return if we are needed," Obi-Wan said, though he was very amused at that slip of just whose padawan Anakin was. 

"Continue working on his shielding, and that might become an option," Master Koon said firmly. "We cannot rule out needing to let Padawan Skywalker lure the Sith out."

Master Fisto frowned slightly, but nodded. "Regrettable, but true, Plo. Padawan Skywalker was doing admirably when he left, however."

Obi-Wan nodded. "I can only commend him for his actions and abilities on our mission, as he maintained exactly his role within the guidelines Master Jinn gave him. His assistance in the actual battle was crucial to our success." There, let the Masters all see just what he thought of his little brother. The anger with them over riding Anakin dangerously hard for his emotions was well-contained though.

It was Master Yoda that said softly, after a moment, "Good... good this is, to hear. Pleased we are." 

//It's a start,// passed through Obi-Wan's mind, but he merely nodded. "I should go now; I promised Master Jinn I would join him for meditations today." 

Master Koon bowed slightly to him. "Thank you for your report, and may the Force be with you, Knight Kenobi." 

"And with you all, Masters," he said, before killing the comm link. He stretched, then took his robe off, placing it back in the cabin before jogging to his Master in the Naboo clothes beneath it. He wasn't surprised to find the man at the water's edge, looking over it. "We're reported in now, and nothing pressing. The ship will beep my wrist unit if we receive word before we are ready to leave," he told Qui-Gon.

Qui-Gon nodded, reaching for Obi-Wan to draw him in against his chest. "Good. 

'It is beautiful here, isn't it?" 

Obi-Wan settled in right there, but he looked up at Qui-Gon's face, rather than the scenic view. "Yes."

Qui-Gon had felt the weight of his partner's gaze, looked down more to confirm what he already knew than anything else, and made a softly amused noise. "You, my own, are a flatterer." 

"Yes, but it is also perfectly honest of me." He then turned in Qui-Gon's hold, pleased by their height difference that made it so perfect to stand in front of the elder man and look out. "I told them we were securing diplomatic relations," he told Qui-Gon. "And I praised Anakin to them, for both holding to his part and assisting us in the right moment.

"It amuses me that Master Windu himself had to catch a slip about whose padawan our Anakin is," he finished.

"Oh?" Qui-Gon asked, intrigued, his hand running lightly along his beloved's side. What in the name of the Force had Mace said to make Obi-Wan feel quite so amused with the world? "What did he have to say?" 

"He said to keep 'your -- well, Master Jinn's -- padawan off Coruscant', and I did manage to keep a straight face, I promise," Obi-Wan said, mimicking Mace Windu's inflections fairly well. "Master Plo Koon wishes us to continue working on Ani's shielding, in case it is necessary to bait a trap." He didn't like the idea in the least, but it was a ploy that he and Qui-Gon Jinn had used, sometimes unwillingly, in their own association on difficult capture missions.

The mimicry had him chuckling softly, before he hummed, low in his throat, and nodded. He knew that was possible, knew Anakin would say that he would do it, and that they would succeed if it was necessary. He simply wanted that to not have to be the route they took to bring the man down.

"Of course you kept a straight face, my own. You have more respect for the Council than not to." 

Obi-Wan rested his head back against Qui-Gon's shoulder and closed his eyes. "I think we should look through open requests for Jedi negotiators when we are ready to leave here, and tell the Temple we are taking one. It would be good to have a talking mission again." 

"Yes," Qui-Gon agreed, wholeheartedly, "it would." 

He was so tired of taking life, of his skill with a lightsaber not being used for the pleasure of a match, or to defend others that were depending upon him, but for the desperate business of survival. That would pass, it always did, but at the moment... a mission that was discussion and mediation sounded wonderful. 

"Anakin needs more practice in it. He's quick to want a physical action, and must learn the skills of diplomacy," Obi-Wan continued. "He's at least getting better about not provoking fights, the last time we went and negotiated as a team." He had to smile, because the main reason Anakin had managed to keep from insulting anyone, it had been because he'd been distracted with all the food at the meetings.

Qui-Gon snorted softly, shaking his head for a moment before he pressed a kiss to his beloved's hair. "He very rarely _provokes_ fights, my own," he defended his padawan, if mildly. Anakin did have a way of finding the one person that would escalate a situation into violence and leaning upon their last nerve, _that_ he did have to admit. If pressed. 

"I'm sorry, are we both speaking of Anakin 'opens his mouth and says the wrong thing to the wrong person' Skywalker?" Obi-Wan teased.

That got Qui-Gon to laugh, momentarily at first and then longer. "All right, all right, you have a point there. You have to admit that he would never deliberately cause us that trouble, though." 

"Of course not," Obi-Wan said warmly. "He is a good Padawan, and a better person than I managed to be most of the time at that age," he added. He enjoyed hearing Qui-Gon's laughter, on such a visceral level. Anakin had certainly given them more reason to hear it, as Qui-Gon had a slightly different method of guiding his young Padawan than he had with Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan saw that as a good thing, recognizing that every Padawan needed to have their individuality taken into account.

"He is a good padawan," Qui-Gon agreed with the first bit, at least. Obi-Wan at fifteen... had been struggling his way through lessons he thought Anakin had learned at five. Just as Anakin was struggling now to learn things that Obi-Wan had learned while still in the creche. "As to the other... there is no comparing the two of you, except to say that I am very proud of both of you."

Obi-Wan flushed and felt warm throughout his body for that praise. "Thank you, Qui-Gon. I am only as good as you see because of your guidance."

"No, my own," Qui-Gon disagreed, "you are 'as good as I see' because that is who you are. I have had some of the shaping of you, yes. But no more than that." 

That got Obi-Wan to turn around, weighing the words in proper Jedi fashion, and he remembered when they had committed to each other the second time as Master and Padawan. "We've shaped each other, and together, we are both more than either of us alone."

"Yes," Qui-Gon agreed, looking down into his partner, his beloved's, bright, steady eyes with an almost savage flare of love and faith alike. "So we have, and are." Obi-Wan smiled then, bright and full of life, before rising up on his toes to kiss his partner. Today was going to be a good day, and that was all there was to it.

+++++

Anakin had worked his heart out, happily, both on Threepio's bad motivator and on the Nubian craft in the hangar that was down for repairs. He was always happiest and most relaxed when using his mechanical ability, and that had been followed up with a brief encounter with the handmaidens and Queen, giving him a glimpse of Padmé before he'd gone home to his mother.

Dinner had left him pleasantly full, and he wasn't feeling anything but contentment in his bonds to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. The lure of so much peace all around him had him skipping meditations in favor of more sleep, certain that everything was perfectly fine in his world.

The dream started innocently enough. A water world, often wracked by driving storms, was just the kind of exotic location for his mind to wander to. It was as unlike Tatooine as he could get, after all. The facility in the middle of a storm swept ocean was anything but imposing. The beings that lived there looked peaceful enough, with their graceful lines.

And then Anakin was seeing a multitude of humans, all with one face, at various ages from child to young adult. All of them in precise lines, doing everything in unison -- that alone was frightening to the boy that saw conformity as an opening to sins of omission. Then he saw the ranks upon ranks of white armor, helmets vaguely calling to mind the Mandalorian style, blasters at the ready, with massive troop ships in the background.

There was danger in these beings, with their uniformity and uncaring eyes!

He gasped awake, shaking, as the armor, pristine in his dream, married up to the other visions he had seen, ones on his Dark path. In those, the armor had been battle marked as the wearers followed his orders.

It had to be a Force Vision! And he was so far from his Master, who could help him try and unravel it!

He had to go back to Varykino, he had to talk to his Master, he had to -- 

\-- he rolled up out of the bed, pulling his clothes to him in the darkness with the Force. He didn't want to disturb his mother or Ric, but he had to go. He knew where Ric's skimmer was, and he was almost certain his mother's husband wouldn't mind. 

He dressed, got to the kitchen, left a note by the streetlights, and headed for the skimmer. 

At Varykino, Obi-Wan felt something stirring in the Force and realized Qui-Gon was restless as well. He sat up, listening to the Force, feeling the air around him, as he rubbed his eyes of the sleep in them. A touch along both bonds told him it was Anakin as the focal point.

"We'd better dress," he said, smothering a yawn behind his hand. He'd possibly overdone it, swimming and taking in the sun with his lover, as he had been sleeping fairly deep and was not completely alert yet.

"Yes," Qui-Gon agreed, equally drowsy, but coming awake a little more rapidly, with Anakin's agitation washing against him. What could have happened to Anakin in the middle of the night, here on Naboo? "We should.

"Other than Anakin, do you sense anything, my own?" 

"Outside of muscles I forgot I had? Not a thing," Obi-Wan told him, finding the pants -- both sets -- and tossing Qui-Gon's his way. They had been taking full advantage of the lack of responsibilities, and it made Obi-Wan smile that not a single stitch of their clothing was neatly laid out or folded. "I do wonder what trouble he found."

"At this time of night, I don't wonder, I'm concerned," Qui-Gon replied, starting pulling on his clothing. "But yes and neither do I. Sometimes your senses are sharper than mine." 

"Hardly, Qui-Gon. Just differently attuned." Obi-Wan situated the unfamiliar clothing properly, then walked into the 'fresher to wash his face and make his hair presentable. Anakin was a pressing agitation in his mind, growing closer. "At the speed he pilots, we should likely go wait below, so we do not wake our hosts," he called as he brushed his hair out.

"Tell me something I don't know, beloved," Qui-Gon agreed, amused, as he decided he was going to brush his on the walk down -- as there was rather more of it to deal with than his partner chose to wear, and it was about as much of a mess. 

Obi-Wan enjoyed seeing his partner deal with the mane of hair, helpfully holding the hair ribbons to tie it, as they made their way down to the open area in front of the retreat. They'd barely gotten the mass dealt with when their Padawan pulled to a stop in front of them.

"You're awake, good," Anakin said, jumping out of the skimmer as soon as it was shutting down. He'd replayed the vision over and over, forcing himself to analyze the details, to make it a report instead of his gut fear.

"Are you really surprised at that, Anakin?" Qui-Gon asked, softly amused, as he reached one hand out to brush his hand across his padawan's shoulder. "Let's walk down to the shore, there are some comfortable boulders we can rest on while we speak." 

Anakin pushed into that touch, wanting the very real connection to the here and now it meant. "The water is soothing," he said, breathing slowly, using the pattern of breath control that best worked for keeping himself centered.

Obi-Wan followed along, letting them move ahead, pushing fully into the mindset of a Knight instead of a man on leisure with his life-partner. Whatever had disturbed Anakin needed his full consideration.

"So it is," Qui-Gon murmured, keeping his hand on Anakin's shoulder until they neared the rocks he had spoken of, then let him go so that he could chose where he wanted to sit, to be. 

Anakin chose one that let him stretch his long legs out, and then he looked over the lake. "I dreamed of a world I have never seen. More water than I thought existed in a single place, drenched in storms that seemed to never end," he described. "Rising up out of the ocean was a facility, and it was run by a species I don't recognize. Very graceful, tall, slender long necks and they were the caretakers of a multitude of humans, all with the same face, but at ages from child to an adult in their prime. All men.

"Then I saw the eldest of these men in armor, white with splashes of color where rank and unit might go on security forces. The helmets had a cut similar to Mandalorian view-slits." He turned to look at Qui-Gon then, face as blank as he could make it. "It was the army from my other visions. The one where there is war everywhere I turn."

Qui-Gon listened, learning the details so that the three of them could research this later. A water world -- there were several of those -- with many storms, or one perpetual storm. Interesting, but not unique, either. Anakin not recognizing the species, with all of the time he had spent in the Senate recently, startled him just slightly, but if it was a Rim world, they would not be represented. So many of the species Anakin knew best were not in the Senate, so one unfamiliar was odd. 

'All with the same face'? What? It took a moment before he realized what the answer had to be, and at almost the same moment 'clones' crossed his thoughts, Anakin had turned back towards him. The blank look on his padawan's face gave him a moment's warning, and then the words he'd known were coming did. 

"Then we must find this planet, Ani, and learn what we can of why this army exists." 

"We can use Ilum's copy of the Archives," Obi-Wan suggested quietly from where he'd taken up a perch to listen. "And Anakin, you won't. We have you, and the three of us are far more aware of one another's strengths and weaknesses than many Jedi who team together."

Anakin listened to the absolute certainty in his big brother's voice, nodding to it. He wanted to believe, but every thing that showed him more pieces of that future made his soul feel cold. "I definitely want to find it, and keep that future from happening." He drew in a deep breath and then looked Qui-Gon over with concern. "We don't have to go right away, Master, if you need a few more days rest."

Qui-Gon made a soft, thoughtful noise, considering. 

He was much better than he had been -- something about Obi-Wan's absolutely stubborn tenacity on reminding him that Xanatos and Dooku alike had made their choices at every turn, and the simple chance for real rest, possibly -- and Anakin's visions were always something to heed. 

"Another day," he decided, "so that we can all enjoy Naboo's hospitality a little longer, and then, yes. Back to Ilum -- _after_ we all buy a set of mountain gear here -- and the databases there." 

Ilum's repository was not a complete copy of the Archives, of course, but it was quite extensive, one of the largest secondary repositories in the galaxy, and every Jedi visited it at least once every few years. "There are not that many races who excel at cloning, I do not think. And fewer that would live on water worlds.

"We will find it, Ani." 

Anakin nodded, then looked back over the water. It was quiet and still, like he needed to be. He knew Obi-Wan was right. He had faith in his Master's determination. So why was he still so afraid?


End file.
